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By
Kat Stevens
Har
Mar Superstar has cancelled due to a case of the shingles. Oxford
breathes a sigh of relief and is spared a near-naked fat Prince
wannabe for the evening. Instead, we have the unexpected pleasure
of the Young Knives filling in.
The
Bandits are an unbelievably Scouse band, right down to the singer's
velour tracksuit. You can practically name the Coral song from which
is each riff is stolen, but they're technically tight and enjoyable
to watch. A packed Zodiac politely applauds.
Blame
Canada?
Singer
Steve Bays announces that it's his birthday at midnight, and happily
tells us how cool we all are for turning up.
He's
not wrong. Hailing from Vancouver Island in British Columbia (a
stone's throw from Seattle), Hot Hot Heat rank alongside repetitively
named cohorts The Yeah Yeah Yeah's in the coolness stakes. We all
feel rather smug.
In
case you've been on Mars, their last single "Bandages"
went from Radio 1 B-list to complete banishment from the airwaves
(apparently something to do with the war). The general public didn't
seem to care however, and gave HHH a top 40 hit.
The
group look surprisingly young for the quality of music they make.
A little rough around the edges to start off perhaps, but the temperature
in the Zodiac soon rises as they reel off "Touch You Touch
You", "Get In Or Get Out" and "No, Not Now"
- all at perfect moshing speed.
Each
song seems to cite a different influence, from early 80s indie-pop
such as XTC and the Smiths, to the New York funk of Talking Heads.
Further comparisons to Radio 4 and The Rapture are fully justified
on hearing Dustin Hawthorne's rolling bass-lines on "5 Times
Out Of 100" (taken from last year 's Knock Knock Knock EP)
and "Talk To Me, Dance With Me". This band is hard to
pin down.
Bays
completely eclipses the rest of the band members. Strutting around
the stage and clambering over the drum kit, he proceeds to wiggle
around his keyboard as if he can't keep still - all the while delivering
the boyish yells of Robert Smith. It's hard to take your eyes off
him.
By
the time "Aveda" and "Bandages" wrap up the
set, his enthusiasm has become infectious, and the crowd soon find
themselves singing along at the top of their voices.
The
following encore is a slight anti-climax. It's almost as if HHH
have pleaded with their tour manager to be allowed back on stage
for one last song. "This Town" is a great little piece
of punk-reggae that could easily have been written by the Clash,
but everyone is still humming "Bandages" as they leave.
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